Sam Cherry provides an update on chancel repair liability & addresses
a medieval anomaly...
In medieval Britain, the Church was granted powers to charge those owning “rectorial land” for the upkeep of the church chancel.
This historic liability has haunted generations of property transactions and still affects land and properties throughout England and Wales today.
The bell is tolling for this medieval anomaly which will cease to be an overriding interest at midnight on 12 October 2013, but will this address the issue of liability?
The short answer is no, chancel repair liability, attaches itself to land regardless of whether or not the liability is currently noted against the title.
The Land Registration Act 2002 (which came into force in 2003), qualified that the Church of England and Wales had a 10-year period to disclose and register their interests against the titles of “liable properties” or forfeit the right to enforce the chancel repair liability in the future.
As it currently stands there is no single register which can be used to identify properties that are at risk of this liability, making it
